The MWC 2023 made it clear that the future of mobile communications passed through the satellite. Vodafone kicked off by presenting its service with AST SpaceMobile, but it won’t be the only one. telephone has announced an agreement with Elon Musk’s company, Starlink, to provide satellite communications service in Mexico and in the future.
At the moment it will be a business service limited to Mexico, although it will gradually become available in other Latin American countries, including Peru, Colombia, Chile and Brazil, to eventually also reach Spain. The idea is to reinforce Telefónica’s coverage in the region through satellite, and in the same sense, reach particularly remote areas in which satellite communications have been postulated as the best option.
Starlink’s technology has proven especially good at bringing broadband to remote areas. In fact, some Elon Musk’s men deployed this technology in Colombia. And he did it with two rather important assets: high speed and low latency. In exchange, yes, for a price somewhat higher than the rest of the alternatives that offer internet in the region.
Connection+: this is the Telefónica and Starlink service in Mexico
In Mexico, Telefónica has baptized this new service as connection+and includes the Starlink satellite kit, including the high-gain antenna and router necessary to receive the connection, and of course, uses the low-orbit satellite constellation LEO (Low Earth Orbit) from SpaceX.
Starlink has also been available in Spain for quite some time, both for individuals and companies, as an independent service from the operators. The agreement with Telefónica will allow offer this technology within its packages for companiesso it is a good way for Elon to offer satellite internet with a partner with as much presence in the region as Telefónica.
The agreement with Starlink has been carried out through Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), and at the moment the prices and characteristics of the service are unknown when it is implemented in Spain. However, and taking into account the current prices of Starlink, it can be a more than interesting alternative to bring internet to remote regions. And above all, to improve the possibilities of companies in these regions.